Video simulation purports to show Iranian military shooting down Israeli jet near Isfahan
Footage comes from Arma 3 tactical shooter simulation video game
CLAIM
A post on X shared this video claiming to show the Iranian military shooting down an Israeli F-35 fighter jet over Isfahan. It is described as showing Iranian NTI air capabilities downing the jet.
BACKGROUND
Israel launched a retaliatory attack against Iran on April 19 days after the Islamic Republic launched a barrage of missiles and drones at the Jewish state. Iran said the attack was in response to the suspected Israeli strike on the Iranian consulate in Damascus at the start of April that Iran said killed two senior Revolutionary Guard commanders and five other Iranians.
Friday’s attack damaged a defensive battery near Natanz, a crucial city in central Iran linked to the nation’s nuclear weapons program. The damage was later confirmed by both Western and Iranian officials.
In the aftermath of the attack, a video emerged claiming to show the Iranian military shooting down an Israeli F-35 fighter jet over Isfahan. It is described as showing Iranian NTI air capabilities downing the jet.
The video was re-posted hundreds of times on X. The initial claim the footage is related to the suspected Israeli strikes in Isfahan was traced back to April 19 coinciding with the day Iranian media reported explosions near Isfahan in the early morning.
METHOD
The same X user, who posted this footage early on April 19 with the claim had already posted the same video on January 12, 2024, claiming it showed Yemen’s Houthi rebels shooting down an American F-15 fighter jet. In fact, they simply reposted the January post with a different caption.
Several comments under the footage shared in posts on X indicated that it was an animation created with Arma 3. A keyword search on X of “Arma 3″ and “fighter jet” produced results that contained similar footage to the one seen here.
Several YouTube videos were shared which went back to the same YouTube channel called Compared Comparison
An uncropped version of the same footage can be found uploaded to this YouTube channel in September 2022 where it is described as a simulation made with Arma 3.
The owner of the YouTube channel describes themself as a creator of “modern cinematic military films using Arma 3 and DCS as the engine to create the stories and simulations.”
Under the video it says: “This video was created using content of Bohemia Interactive a.s.” and “Copyright © 2020 Bohemia Interactive a.s. All rights reserved.”
There are numerous other similar animations published on the same channel.
RATING
This material is an animation and does not show any strikes in Isfahan — either on an Israeli military aircraft or on Isfahan. It dates back to September 2022 and is misrepresented.
SOURCES:
www.youtube.com. (2022). Available at: Can’t Touch This?! – C-RAM System Action vs SU-25 Jet – Military Simulation – ArmA 3 #shorts. [online] [Accessed 23 Apr. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: BREAKING. HOUTHI ANTI AIR CAPABILITIES SEEN DESTROYING THE FIRST AMERICAN F-15 OF THE WAR OVER SANA’A, YEMEN.[Accessed 23 Apr. 2024].
X (formerly Twitter). (2024). Available at: BREAKING. IRANIAN NTI AIR CAPABILITIES SEEN DESTROYING THE FIRST ISRAELI F-35 IN HISTORY OVER ISFAHAN[Accessed 23 Apr. 2024].